Following several years of planning, our expedition to trek for the Andean puma in Patagonia was very successful. Weather conditions in this harsh region of the southern Andes are often rapidly changing -- high winds and driving sleet alternated with pleasant sunny spans during the course of a single trek. Heavy packs with long-lens camera setups and parkas made the lengthy climbs challenging; however, even when the puma were not cooperative, we were rewarded with absolutely spectacular vistas as evidenced by some of the landscape images below.
Unlike the big cats of Africa, puma are notoriously skittish in the presence of man -- frequently, considerable field craft was necessary for our experienced trackers to guide us in close proximity to these formidable predators.
